The American Academy Of Pediatrics Adjusts Policy To Favor Circumcision

[DemocratSinceBirth]

The American Academy of Pediatrics has shifted its official position on the contentious issue of infant circumcision, stating Monday that the medical benefits of the procedure for baby boys outweigh the small risks.

In its first new policy statement on the issue since 1999, the academy said that circumcision reduced risks of urinary tract infections in infants and of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases later in life — and that the complications associated with the procedure were infrequent and mostly minor.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-new-circumcision-policy-20120827,0,4263437.story

[cthulu2016]

1. And reduces masturbation, which will save the sight of many

Whatever medical reasons one comes up with, the fact remains that the procedure became widespread in the US as a means to reduce sexual sensation.

[NightWatcher]

2. why is DU fascinated SO DAMN MUCH about circumcision? It should be a private matter

between parents, doctors, and clergy (when applicable)

[redqueen]

3. Some silly human rights thing... about bodily integrity.

It's crazy, I know.

[liberal_at_heart]

5. don't bother

I love DU but if you happen to disagree with anything the hard liners have to say you just get attacked.

[Alduin]

6. Yeah. Who cares if someone cuts off part of a man's penis.

They'll lose feeling in the head of their penis over time.

But why talk about it?



It's barbaric, it's rooted in religion, and it's not needed in our country. At all.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. The American Academy Of Pediatrics Respectfully Disagrees

.

[joeglow3]

18. Studies have said it has no noticeable effect on sensations.

[Alduin]

25. Links?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. Here

Opponents also argue that it is traumatic for the infant and impairs later sexual function, though the technical report accompanying the policy noted that the task force did not find evidence supporting that belief.


http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-new-circumcision-policy-20120827,0,4263437.story

That, of course is a secondary source. By reading the entire study you can find the original source.

[Warpy]

4. What they said is that it's best left up to the parents

and while there were definite health benefits to circumcision the benefits were not dramatic enough for them to call for circumcision across the board.

Once again, parents have been empowered to make health care decisions for their infants and that's a good thing no matter what the anti circumcision zealots say about it.

[Alduin]

8. It's best left up to the male who's losing part of his penis.

[redqueen]

9. You "zealot"! That legal protection is only for GIRL'S genitals.

Equal protection under the law? Puh-leez.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. Is Removal Of The Male Foreskin

Is removal of the male foreskin tantamount to a procedure that leaves females incapable of orgasm and leaves the opening of the vagina in some instances not even large enough to accommodate a pencil?

[redqueen]

12. Check the number of nerve endings in the foreskin vs the clitoris.

Also do some reading about the procedure.

The foreskin on an infant is fused to the glans. It has to be forcibly peeled away to be removed.

Consider that this area, after this procedure, is routinely surrounded in urine and feces.

I seriously can't believe this country still rationalizes this procedure.

I guess the massively differing rates of UTI's and STD' between the US and Europe make it all worthwhile, somehow.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. I Have Read The Literature

The American Academy Of Pediatrics addressed your concerns:

Opponents also argue that it is traumatic for the infant and impairs later sexual function, though the technical report accompanying the policy noted that the task force did not find evidence supporting that belief.

[Alduin]

15. A significant amount of nerves are lost during circumcision.

I agree with you.

Condoms can protect against STD's and are readily available for males to acquire.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. Condoms Only Work If People Use Them

Somebody's not wearing them because there are approximately 19 million new STD infections each year.


http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=37

[Care Acutely]

27. circumcision is not a meaningful remediation to unprotected sex

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. If A Fifty Seven Decrease In The Inidence Of HIV Infection Isn't A Meaningful Remediation

I guess not.

[cali]

19. oh please.

that may be the most unscientific load I've read here. You are clearly the one that needs to do some reading.

[cthulu2016]

14. Tantamount? No. Similar? Yes.

The reason circumcision is widespread in the USA is because it was thought to reduce masturbation by reducing sensitivity/sexual stimulus.

It is obviously not as bad as FGM, but I don't know that is much of a defense. It was popularized here for related reasons, it is done without consent, it is irreversible.

I don't lose much sleep over it. I don't blame my parents. It isn't the biggest issue the world faces.

But I cannot believe anyone, anywhere would defend it.

How many adult males would opt for it, even assuming it was absolutely 100% safe, pain free, etc?

Very, very few.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. It Became Widespread For Hygienic Reasons

And research and more research just confirms the efficacy of the procedure and its myriad benefits in reducing the spread of disease.

[cali]

10. this is such an unimportant issue

good for flame wars but little else.

For whatever reason, it inspires great passion.

[FSogol]

20. Have they released a statement on pitbulls or Applebees yet?

We could win the DU Trifecta!

[backscatter712]

21. What a crock.

American Academy of Pediatrics endorses male genital mutilation.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. .

.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Is That A Way To Dismiss A Benign Procedure That Saves The Lives Of Countless Men (and) Women

.

[FedUpWithIt All]

24. First you follow the money....

Circumcision: Who Profits?
Circumcision is big business. Neonatal circumcision is the most frequently performed routine operation in the US. Doctors are collecting as much as $240 million yearly to perform 1.2 million needless operations on 1.2 million normal penises. In England, under socialized medicine when physicians were no longer compensated monetarily, the circumcision rate fell to below 0.5%.

Most parents want the operation. I can make an extra $200. Why should I try to dissuade them? —Anonymous obstetrician


And then, there are the hidden factors that raise the cost of circumcision to the healthcare industry. For example, the additional cost of the added average half-day longer hospital stay for circumcised infants is estimated between $250-550 million beyond the charges for the procedure itself. The total cost of all neonatal circumcisions annually performed in hospitals in the US is well over a billion dollars.

Circumcision is extremely profitable for the medical-industrial complex. Human foreskins are in great demand for a number of commercial enterprises, and the marketing of purloined baby foreskins is also an immensely profitable industry. Some examples: Pharmaceutical companies use foreskin in the manufacture of interferon and other drugs and international biotech corporations are procuring cells from amputated foreskins and experimenting with artificial skin. According to a report in Forbes magazine, the annual market for baby-penis-derived products could be $1 to $2 billion. And all of this without the permission of the “donor.” Biotechnology firms like Organogenesis have received fast-lane approval from the FDA for its foreskin-based Graftskin. Doctors, medico-legal experts, and bioethicists were denied the opportunity to request a full hearing and voice their concerns over the ethics of trafficking in and marketing these foreskins.

http://www.thewellspring.com/flex/myth-circumcision-is-neither-harmful-nor-painful/2617/circumcision-who-profits.cfm


Response to the AAP stance....
Intact America states:

Georganne Chapin, Executive Director of Intact America, stated today, “From the AAP Circumcision Task Force’s pre-publication comments, it is clear that the group has chosen to feature only literature (almost exclusively focused on adult men in Africa) that supports its predisposition toward circumcising boys; the Task Force has failed to consider the large body of evidence from the developed world that shows no medical benefits for the practice, and has given short shrift, if not dismissed out of hand, the serious ethical problems inherent in doctors removing healthy body parts from children who cannot consent.”

Doctors Opposing Circumcision state:

Doctors Opposing Circumcision believes that circumcision of children violates numerous legal rights of the child and is highly unethical, if not unlawful. We believe that genital integrity provides the highest level of health and well being for the child. We do not know what the AAP is going to say in their new statement, but we are circumcision experts and we are convinced that non-circumcision is best for children. We reaffirm our Genital Integrity Policy Statement of 2008, which advocates genital integrity for boys.

Attorneys for the Rights of the Child state:

The AAP statement demonstrates its ignorance of the fact that European men don’t circumcise and yet enjoy better health outcomes including in the areas the statement cites as improved after circumcision. Moreover, medical organizations and politicians in Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other countries are calling for the practice to stop. Even in the US, the American Medical Association (AMA) agrees that there is insufficient justification for performing the procedure on newborns absent specific medical indications.

http://www.circumcisionandhiv.com/2012/08/intact-america-doctors-opposing-circumcision-and-attorneys-for-the-rights-of-the-child.html

About circumcision and HIV
http://www.nocirc.org/statements/hiv2003.php
About circumcision and cervical cancer...
http://www.nocirc.org/statements/cervical_cancer_stmt2002.php

http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. If A Physician Was In It For The Money They Could Have Picked A Better Specialty Than Pediatrics

http://www.profilesdatabase.com/resources/2011-2012-physician-salary-survey

And whom should the impartial observer believe?

A bunch of groups whose raison d'etre is to oppose circumcision or a group devoted to treating infants.